Original subtitles

I am Mistress Frieren's apprentice.

You pass.

Next!

<=ons> ORIGINAL STORY BY KANEHITO YAMADA / TSUKASA ABE

Denken, the Imperial Mage.

I know about you.

I am honored.

You worked your way up while serving in the military

and now you are a mage with the most authority in the northern lands.

Your inspirational story is famous.

Honestly, I wish I had met you when you were young.

When you were young, hot-blooded,

and full of ambition.

I have no interest in a dying flame.

At least, that's what I thought...

You changed your mind?

The moment you saw me, you thought about

how you would fight me, didn't you?

Just for a split second. I gave up right away.

You pass. Your flame is still burning.

Normal people wouldn't even think about fighting me.

Next.

You pass.

But I haven't said anything yet.

Is a conversation necessary?

I guess you're right.

Next.

You must be joking.

What do you mean?

This is a first-class mage exam, you know?

What kind of idiot doesn't come to the exam even once?

As you can see,

I am here in the flesh as well,

to qualify as a participant...

During this entire exam,

your real body hasn't left your hometown, has it?

I bet you're leisurely enjoying teatime.

That's surprising.

Even Übel didn't notice.

You have quite the audacity. You pass.

Next.

You're Wirbel, the captain of the Northern Magic Corps, right?

Out of all the second-class mages I know,

you are the most equipped for combat.

The moment you saw me,

you realized that you couldn't win against me.

But that conclusion wasn't made out of fear.

If I was a fool who'd start an unwinnable fight,

I wouldn't be a second-class mage.

That's true.

Tell me a spell you like.

Magic is a killing tool.

I don't like or hate any of them.

You pass.

Next.

What did you think when you saw me?

Um... I thought you were small and adorable.

What is wrong with these examinees this year?

You pass.

Sense,

I apologize.

This year's group was particularly talented.

I failed...

There's always next time.

Stop following me.

Three years from now, huh?

Mistress Frieren, I passed.

Good job.

Frieren.

We were able to make it this far thanks to you two.

Now I can visit the cemetery in my hometown.

I see.

Come on, Fern.

Can you hurry up?

-I'll go with this. -This one.

Eat as much as you want.

When I was young,

I rarely had the chance to eat sweet things.

Thank you very much.

Why am I here?

Eat up, young'un.

Thanks, old man.

Who is he?

He's Master Denken, an Imperial Mage.

An Imperial Mage, huh?

You mean he's a noble?!

Um, I'm sorry I spoke to you informally.

It's fine.

I came to this town as nothing but a regular mage.

But I can't let you treat me, when I'm a complete stranger.

I don't have anything else to spend my money on.

That can't be true.

Yeah, what about your grandchildren?

I don't have any children or grandchildren.

When I was in my mid-twenties, my wife died.

She always had health problems.

She was the daughter of a noble from

a remote area in the Northern Plateau, who lost in a political struggle.

At the time, I needed both wealth and power.

Those were the only things I could think of that could save her.

But Serie established

the Continental Magic Association with the promise

of granting people a privilege shortly after my wife died.

I've never felt as helpless as I did then.

It's so ironic.

Now, I have enough power to move entire nations.

Fern,

to me, magic was nothing but

a tool to use for political strife.

Will you please tell Frieren

that for the first time in a while, I was reminded

of the fact that magic can be fun.

I became a mage because I wanted to be like Frieren,

the mage in the party of heroes.

Please tell her that yourself.

I'm sure Mistress Frieren would appreciate that.

That's true.

I'll do that.

As expected of Äußerst, the city of magic.

I was able to buy so many great grimoires.

Hey, old lady.

Do they all need to go into this basket?

I can't believe you ignored that.

I thought about helping for a second.

Just for a second, huh?

I'm so surprised.

I thought a party member of Himmel the Hero would be...

A party member of Himmel would be what?

Speaking of being surprised, I was too.

I heard you tried to kill Fern's party in the first stage.

She was complaining about you.

She said you seem like the type who'd kick a dog.

I get that often.

I was only trying to scare them.

Although,

I would've done the world a favor if I had killed one of them.

I will do anything in order to protect my hometown.

I wanted to become a first-class mage

for the privilege of being granted a spell of my choice.

If I get a hold of a strong spell,

I'll be able to kill that many more demons.

But even when it has nothing to do with demons,

I try to help anyone who is in need as much as I can.

Why?

My hometown is in a remote area in the north.

The people there know countless stories of Himmel the Hero.

From the conquest of the Thousand-Mirror Tower

to the battles against Böse the Immortal and the hell emperor dragon.

When I was a kid, I loved those tales of adventures.

But the older ones in the village never talked about those stories.

"He took down a monster who attacked the village."

"He escorted a merchant." Those were their stories.

The worst story was about how he simply transported goods.

They weren't exciting at all.

"What a boring story." That's what I thought.

But the older ones in the village

looked so happy as they all shared stories like that.

After Himmel the Hero died

and the remaining demons began to run amok, it all made sense.

In reality,

the Thousand-Mirror Tower, Böse, the hell emperor dragon,

and even the Demon King were irrelevant to my village.

Everyone had their hands full just trying to protect their daily lives.

If Himmel the Hero hadn't come to my village,

it wouldn't have been around to see a peaceful world.

I see. What is your point?

What brought me to where I am right now

is Himmel the Hero's trivial tales of adventures.

That's all I wanted to say.

I guess I was talking for too long.

As it turns out, I'm going to go back with those two.

Frieren, you should cherish the people you encounter.

Death isn't the only thing that separates people forever.

But I'm sure you're fully aware of that.

Frieren, can't you use magic to

carry them one by one to the other side?

Then I'll be left alone on this side.

Himmel,

we can't waste any time in taking down the Demon King.

Why do we have to do such trivial acts of kindness?

True, it's a trivial act of kindness.

Doing things like this won't change the world, I'm sure.

But I have no intention

of ignoring people who are within reach, when they need help.

Don't worry, Himmel.

The world is changing, for sure.

We're going to be awarded our privilege tonight.

Apparently, we can bring companions.

So why don't we all go together?

She looks really reluctant.

Um, I was told that I can bring a companion though.

I'm very sorry.

Mistress Serie has informed us that Mistress Frieren is banned.

She does not want you to enter

any Continental Magic Association facility for another 1000 years.

What did Mistress Frieren do to deserve this treatment?

It can't be helped.

I upset Serie, after all.

She's so childish, isn't she?

Well, it's not like I came here because I wanted to anyway.

I'll be waiting outside.

I'll wait outside too.

Hey!

That's the evening bell.

They should be done awarding the privileges soon.

Yeah.

A first-class mage...

The highest rank of mages that less than 50 people in the world claim to be.

Fern has come a long way.

In this generation,

Fern will probably become a mage more famous than me.

Frieren...

Isn't that great?

Yeah, it is.

Mistress Frieren.

Who is that?

Someone from the Continental Magic Association.

I am Lernen, a first-class mage.

I'm one of Mistress Serie's apprentices.

It seems that Mistress Serie has caused you trouble.

It's fine.

She's always been this way.

What's wrong, Frieren?

You see it, don't you?

The instability of my mana.

You're extremely skilled.

Which is surprising to see in an era of peace.

I agree.

I am an outdated mage who only knows how to fight.

Mistress Serie tells me all the time,

that if I was born during the war against the Demon King's army,

I would have gone down in history

along with other famous heroes.

I see. So what do you want from me?

Among Mistress Serie's apprentices,

the only one who has gone down in history

is the Great Mage Flamme, who is now treated like a mythical being.

If I die of old age,

Mistress Serie will lose one more testament to her existence.

I don't want to leave her

all alone, with nothing in the future.

I want to leave her with something,

even if that is the notoriety of killing Mistress Frieren, the legendary mage.

I challenge you to a duel, Mistress Frieren.

I will not duel you. It's a waste of time.

Jeez...

Mages who only know how to fight

are never good at communicating their feelings.

There's no need to go down in history.

Serie will remember.

One more thing before I go...

This flower garden was made using magic.

What about that?

It was Master's favorite spell.

Didn't you call it a "stupid spell"?

Honestly, Flamme was a failure.

Despite having as much talent as she did,

she couldn't reach my level.

After her, I took in lots of apprentices.

Almost all of them died before me, without coming even close to my level.

But it's strange.

Even though I took them in on a whim,

I can clearly remember each of their

personalities and their favorite spells.

Frieren, for some reason, I've never regretted

taking an apprentice even once.

Even if they weren't able to go down in history.

She can't even express her honest feelings to her apprentice.

She's really such a child.

Mistress Frieren.

They've finished awarding privileges.

Then let's go.

Mistress Frieren, what happened to your shoulder?

I need to get it healed at the church.

I hope they're open.

We really are bad at communicating.

You and I both.

Stark, what kind of game do you want to play today?

Sorry, I can't play with you guys today.

Stark, did you eat breakfast?

I already did.

Stark, come and have a drink.

Oh, thanks!

The path to strength is complex and dangerous.

I wish you well.

Thanks.

It's time to say goodbye to Äußerst.

Stark, everyone seems to love you wherever you go.

You think so?

By the way, what kind of spell did you receive yesterday?

Can't you tell?

Your clothes are clean.

And have a floral scent.

Don't tell me...

It's the spell to make clothes clean and spotless.

This will make doing laundry so easy.

Serie lives up to her name as the living grimoire.

That's a legendary spell that is said to have existed in mythical times.

Way to go, Fern.

You truly are my apprentice.

Of course, I am, Mistress Frieren.

Mistress Serie looked very reluctant though.

You must be insane.

I can imagine. Serves her right.

Oh, she's here.

Frieren!

Thanks for everything.

We failed this time,

but we'll try again in three years.

Yeah? I'm glad.

-It was fun. -Take care.

-See you. -Yeah, see you.

It's just like the time with Sein.

You part ways with people so easily.

She was this way with Kraft too.

Himmel,

you part ways with people so easily, don't you?

Is that weird?

Well, knowing you, it's surprising.

Even if it was just a job, we did travel together for two weeks, after all.

Plus, he drank with us

almost every night and was so...

You corrupt priest...

I guess so.

But as long as our journey continues, we can always meet again.

Tearful goodbyes don't suit us.

After all, it'll be embarrassing when we meet again.

It'll be embarrassing when we meet again.

-Huh? -Huh?

What do you mean?

Subtitle translation by: Kiko Morita